The rabbi charged with administering the Western Wall Plaza excoriated United Nations ambassadors from four countries who boycotted a visit to the holy site.
A week ago, the United Nations ambassadors from Italy, Romania, Slovenia, and Moldova dropped out of a group visit to the Western Wall, after the European Union ordered representatives of member states not to participate in any Israeli-hosted tour of eastern Jerusalem.
The representatives of seven other nations took part in the visit as planned. They included ambassadors from Thailand, Costa Rica, Belize, Serbia, Georgia, Haiti, and Sierra Leone.
On Friday, Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch, the rabbi of the Western Wall, blasted the boycott in an open letter.
"It was with extreme dismay that I heard of your decision not to attend the official tour of the Western Wall given by the State of Israel for ambassadors. 'The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.' Your decision to 'avoid' the tour was a resounding victory for evil, a choice that is deeply upsetting."
"The Jewish nation does not need anyone’s approval for its eternal connection with Jerusalem and the Western Wall. This is a bond of thousands of years that was shaped by the love of a nation for its God and forged through the fire of destruction. It is a bond that is validated every single day by unusual archaeological findings from the days of ancient kings of Judah, discovered in the earth of Jerusalem. Had you joined the tour, you would have seen them yourself."
"Cynical people have been spreading the disdainful libel that the Jewish nation is threatening the Temple Mount and Jerusalem’s peace. They have been doing so since 1929. The truth is quite the contrary. The Jewish nation is the only one in the last two-thousand years under whose sovereignty there is real and complete freedom of religion for all religions."
"What was done cannot be undone. Your choice was made and its echoes were heard around the world. But if the welfare of Jerusalem is indeed dear to you, if you actually wish to partner with those from all religions who sincerely wish to make Jerusalem a city of peace, then you must stand by historic, archaeological, and cultural truth and see the Israeli tolerance and acceptance of all religions in Jerusalem.
Powerful! Jewish pride at it's best!
ReplyDeleteEU countries (with exception of Serbia who Israel has abandoned for the last 30 years) chickened out. Because they are aware what EU can do to them.
ReplyDeleteLet's be fair: quite a few of the EU brokers are frei Jews or Jewish extraction
Not to worry: Italy will eventually switch sides again!
ReplyDelete